How to schedule house cleaning

When I first became a "stay-at-home" mom, I realized that one thing I hated more than anything was trying to cram an entire day of housecleaning into one day. But, when I tried to do a "little here/little there", it was way too haphazard.

So, I did what I always do and made a list (lists are my tried-and-true way to feel in control). The list consisted of all the parts of the house that needed to be cleaned every week. I then made a weekly schedule for when things would get done. This is how my schedule looked:

Monday: dust & vacuum second floor
Tuesday: clean kitchen and first floor bathroom, including mop floors
Wednesday: clean upstairs bathrooms
Thursday: change cat's litter box, sweep basement steps and put out trash
Friday: dust & vacuum first floor
Saturday: wash towels
Sunday: wash sheets

Laundry happened almost daily, as needed. Every night before bed, I'd straighten out the house and the kids had to help pick up their toys. And, if I missed a day, I doubled up the next.

This all worked very nicely for years (at least five) until my husband went back to school, I started working part time and the kids' schedules got busier. And, so I decided to change my cleaning schedule to reflect my crazier lifestyle without having to compromise on the cleanliness of my home.






I hired a housecleaner.

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This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network to promote Pledge Multi-Surface Cleaner's $5000 Sweepstakes. You could win $5000 toward a Multi-Suface Home Makeover or one of 30 Pledge Prize Packs.

Why We Could Use Our Own Chickens

For most people, the week after Easter means day after day of egg salad to use up all the hard-boiled eggs.

Not here though. We go through eggs like water.

First, my husband: he takes two hard-boiled eggs to work every day for breakfast. He was working through our brightly colored Easter eggs before we even got to the holiday.

And, my two girls: they can put down 2-3 eggs in a sitting, just peeled with salt, or quickly mashed up in a sandwich (don't worry, my eight year old has a cholesterol count to envy).

So, I'd offer up a recipe for our favorite egg salad (although it really is just mayo and mustard), or some other clever way to use eggs, but there aren't any eggs left in my fridge.

Thankfully, I'm picking up four dozen today from my friend who has chickens. Yes, four dozen. That should last us a couple weeks, I hope.

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This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network to promote the American Egg Board's website of great recipes, ideas and nutritional info about the humble egg. And, did you know that the week after Easter is Egg Salad Week? So, get cracking! (ha!)

You-Tubing With The Kids

Need to kill a little time with the kiddos today? Here are some of my favorite kids' music videos on You Tube.

Don't blame me if they want to watch them ten times in a row.

(If you like the bands, check out the reviews I've written on Cool Mom Picks -- links provided below).

First is one of the fiercest kids videos I've ever seen from Portland, Oregon's Captain Bogg & Salty. "Pieces of 8ight" is a great intro to pirate for your little buccaneer and is found on an earlier album, Pegleg Tango.




Their latest batch of pirate goodness is found on their new CD, Emphatical Piratical.

If you'd prefer a little authentic hip-hop without worrying about any booty-shaking, check out Secret Agent 23 Skidoo's Gotta Be Me.



You may even spot his little girl Saki rapping alongside her dad. His new CD is Easy.

Next up is one of those You-Tubers you may have heard before since his "Hamster on a Piano" video has been emailed to just about everyone on the planet. And while I can't listen to that song more than once a month, Parry Gripp's latest CD Do You Like Waffles? is pure goofy fun. Here is the video that goes along with the song:



He's got a ton of stuff on You Tube and on his own website but not all of it is on the CD and isn't all necessarily for kids. This may make your head explode (I'm sorry):



My 8-year-old Belly just ohmigod, totally loves this one:




Finally, a little sweeter and less frenetic, there is Casper Babypants' "The Island Hop" which has my kids drawing faces on their fingers immediately after watching.




Casper Babypants' debut CD is Here I Am!.